Becoming a Road Hazard
by itsfinnmcmissile
Summary: Devon Johnson was just a normal music lover... until he met a tuner car who decided to recruit him into a gang. Short stories about the DRH, especially about DJ.
1. Chapter 1

For as long as he could remember, he had been thought of as either a sweet little boy, a source of amusement for bullies, or a waste of space. He had never really bothered to convince anyone otherwise; as long as he had his music collection, he could handle whatever the jerks, teachers, and his parents threw at him. But now Devon Montgomery Johnson the Third was 21 years old wanted to change. For the first time in his short life, he had his natural color (a rather dull shade of gold) painted over and was now headed to a party.

Devon arrived at the party a good half hour after it had started and immediately felt a bit lost. Lots of cars in their early twenties were dancing about and yelling, while somehow still managing to stuff lots of food and drink into their mouths. He wondered if he would be able to get up the courage to join in.

"Feeling a bit lost?"

Devon turned around to look at the purple, orange and green tuner car (with an absolutely massive spoiler!) who had just spoken to him. "Maybe a bit," he said warily.

The brightly colored car looked amused. "Don't worry, only popular or delusional cars are comfortable at parties like this"-at this point he realized that Devon's nervousness was partly directed at him-"and I only act like a jerk most of the time. Not all the time. I'm called Wingo by the way."

Devon couldn't help laughing at Wingo's honesty. "Nice to meet you," he said with a slight smile, "I'm just called Devon Johnson."

"Devon Johnson?" Wingo asked, "I think I've heard of you. You bought all the CDs from some local record store last year before it closed, or so I heard."

"That sounds about right..." Devon said, hoping that Wingo wasn't going to start calling him names or laughing at him for being a music geek.

Wingo grinned. "Well then, I have a great idea for you."

"...Yes?" Devon's nervousness was becoming more visible by the second.

Wingo spun around to look at the party. "Boost!" he screeched

Devon blinked.

A silver and purple tuner car lazily drove over, glaring at the flocks of adoring cars who tried to follow him. He eyed Devon like he thought Devon might be a bad tempered lemon in disguise, then turned to look at Wingo. "What are you planning now, Wingo?"

"Well..." said Wingo with a smile which almost didn't look evil, "You know, of course, that a gang with two members is hardly a gang at all..."

Boost tapped his tire impatiently.

Wingo looked at Devon, then, Boost, then back at Devon. "Devon, this is Boost. Boost is a crazy daredevil road racing, nitrous-using freak. He's as nice a car as any you'll ever meet. Boost, this is Devon. He's an audiophile."

"Aw shucks, I'm no audiophile," Devon muttered, blushing. As his new paint job was a dark blue, this made his face turn slightly purple.

"If you say so," said Wingo, amused.

Boost glared at Wingo. "You still haven't told us what you're planning, kid."

Wingo took a deep breath. "I want Devon to join us in travelling the US and causing trouble. We need someone who knows more than three albums to be our DJ. Heck, even his name is right for the job! It's Devon Johnson, for crying out loud!"

"Okay then," Boost said tolerantly.

Devon stared at Wingo. "What makes you think that I want to hang out with a couple of delinquent road hazards?" he spluttered.

"We have ethics! We never physically injure other cars unless they attack us first. And I could equip you with an epic sound system and paint job," Wingo said.

Devon's rearview mirrors noticeably shot up. He couldn't help feeling tempted by an offer like that!

"Come on," Wingo pleaded, "just for a week?"

Slowly, Devon nodded his hood.


	2. Snot Rod!

One day the Road Hazards were thundering down some dirt road in the middle of nowhere, when a car driving the other direction sneezed and crashed hoodfirst into DJ. DJ was thrown to the side of the road by the impact and landed on his side, wheels spinning helplessly. While Boost and Wingo alternately laughed and tried to figure out how to get their friend right-side-up, the sniffling orange muscle car shoved DJ back onto his wheels.

"You okay, man?" the car asked.

DJ eyed his hood and sideview mirror mournfully. "Mostly," he replied.

The orange car looked embarrassed. "I'm very sorry. I have allergies and they make me lose control of my wheels sometimes."

"Apologies aren't going to turn back time," growled Boost. Wingo nodded in agreement.

"Be nice," said DJ, "he couldn't help it. And he shoved me upright while you two were still trying to find a way to set up a pulley."

Boost and Wingo backed off a little, but still looked annoyed.

The orange car smiled gratefully at DJ.

"What's your name?" DJ asked curiously.

"Julian Tractorsmith," replied the orange car, "but please call me Snot Rod."

All three of the DRH blinked.

"Did I hear you right?" Wingo wondered.

"If you heard me say 'Snot Rod', then yes," Snot Rod said with a grin.

DJ roared with laughter. "That has to be the best nickname I've ever heard!" he chortled, "You don't look like you're in a gang, so want to join the Delinquent Road Hazards?"

"WHAT?" screeched Wingo in his most gratingly shrill voice.

DJ winced. "Hey, quit the squeaking or I'll break off your spoiler and sell it on some auction site.." They both knew the threat was an empty one, but Wingo shut up anyway. No need to make the strongest and loudest car in the gang lose his temper!

DJ waited politely for any more complaints before continuing. "Look, Snot Rod could be a great addition to the gang. He's a big, strong car, and not many cars would be willing to get on his bad side I bet. Plus he's polite, which is kind of refreshing after hanging out with you two. No offence."

Wingo bristled a bit, but Boost nodded slowly.

"I'm getting the feeling that you guys also need me to settle your arguments for you," muttered Snot Rod, "just a certain vibe I'm getting..."

DJ smiled his sweetest smile.

"Why should I join?" Snot Rod asked, obviously interested despite his better judgement.

"Good old fashioned road racing, a bit of adventure, and a whole lot of top quality music." Replied DJ.

"Sounds fun, but I'd like to set a few conditions before I even consider joining."

Boost and Wingo scowled as DJ nodded.

"First, none of us shall commit any crime which could get us sent to prison. I'm okay with spending a few days in jail, but certainly not more than a month."

"Sounds reasonable," DJ said, staring at his friends. They nodded sullenly.

"Second, absolutely no gang wars if they can possibly be avoided."

"No problem. We do have ethics, you know!"

Once again, Boost and Wingo nodded.

"And third, I will be treated as an equal. I'm not interested in being a servant, scapegoat, or a source of amusement. Got it?"

Boost spluttered. "What sort of a gang do you think we are?"

"An unpleasant one," growled Snot Rod, "my experiences with school gangs haven't been good, so why should I expect non-school gangs to be any different?."

"He's smart," Wingo muttered to DJ, "Maybe your gang member choices aren't as bad as I thought."

DJ smirked at his brightly colored friend, then turned back to Snot Rod. "You have no way to know if we're any different. But feel free to come with us and see what you think after a week."

Snot Rod looked at each of the gang members in turn. They looked nice enough, he supposed. "What are your names?" he asked.


	3. Framed

**This story was originally going to have a happy ending. Unfortunately for our Delinquent friends, I've decided to make it less happy. If you want to read a story with a cheerful conclusion, this probably won't be your first choice (but it isn't too unhappy either, FYI).**

The big, box-shaped car watched as a group of sparkly, rainbowy and thoroughly bad looking tuner cars drove into Radiator Springs. He barely suppressed his snarl of anger, hiding it behind his best "Look, I'm a nice boy from the country!" smile. He greeted them warmly enough, and began planning the best way to punish these vile cars for coming to his town.

DJ awoke suddenly to the sound of clanging metal. He looked out the window of his Cozy Cone motel room and, not having seen anything, went out to investigate. Boost, Snot Rod, and Wingo were also coming out of their cones. They all went to take a look.

What they saw made them all gasp in shock. Someone had spray painted their gang's acronym onto the "Radiator Springs: a happy place" painting on the side of a building, and several paint cans were lying about.

"Was it you, Wingo?" Asked Boost quietly.

Wingo shook his hood no. "You know I only graffiti Speed Limit signs, and I haven't even done that in ages."

Boost's mouth twisted into something that looked suspiciously like a smile of amusement. "Oh yeah, I guess I forgot."

"We'd better get out of here," muttered Snot Rod.

"Agreed," replied Boost.

The four cars turned to leave, only to find their way blocked by the local sheriff (who, creepily, was actually named Sheriff) and a tough looking car named David who resembled DJ... except he didn't look like a "bad kid".

All four Road Hazards looked nervously at Sheriff.

"We didn't do it," Boost spoke up bravely, "it was already here when we came to take a look."

Sheriff frowned. "I find that highly unlikely. Why would anyone else write 'DRH' on the first building you see upon entering this town?"

"...Not to frame us so we'd have to leave, surely," Wingo said, his voice dripping sarcasm.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow," growled Sheriff as he stuck parking boots on their tires and escorted them to the impound lot.

DJ's first thought next morning was that his wheel hurt. He groaned. That dratted parking boot was probably designed for cars with little wheels. Forklifts, maybe. Not for Scion Xbs. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around the impound lot.

"Mornin', you pretty little tuners!" It was the revoltingly rusted tow truck named Ta-Mater.

DJ looked at him warily, carefully hiding his disgust at the truck's appearance. "Good morning."

"You tuners are gonna have a wonderful day, Sheriff says!" Mater informed DJ, "The trial's in just a few hours, and if you lose, you're probably gonna plough a few fields! Boy, I wish I was you."

"Is that sarcasm?" Asked Snot Rod as he drove over and parked next to DJ.

Mater looked startled. "'Course not!"

Snot Rod stared at wide-eyed, friendly Mater in disbelief. "Then Sheriff was being sarcastic. There is nothing fun about trials or community service."

"I love community service," the tow truck replied proudly, "and trials around here are short and sweet."

DJ smacked his hood with his tire. Goody-four-tires tow trucks could be so annoying!

Sure enough, the trial was short. None of the DRH could afford a lawyer, so the ever helpful Mater volunteered for the job.

He made a terrible lawyer.

Sheriff's friend, the huge Honda Element named David, was supervising the four cars as they took turns ploughing in teams of two. DJ couldn't help feeling lucky when he was assigned to help Boost with ploughing instead of Snot Rod. All the dust they were going to kick up would totally set off poor Snotty's allergies.

"Get moving, you two! The sooner you're done, the sooner you can leave this town!" David barked.

Boost glared. "You aren't a cop or a drill sergeant. We're only doing this because Sheriff is. Don't start feeling like you have authority over us, creep."

David looked angry, but he didn't say anything.

Over the next few hours, Wingo (who was awaiting his turn at ploughing) became very bored. He started teasing David to provide some amusement.

"Hey David!"

"...What."

"How many Honda Elements does it take to change a tire?"

David clenched his teeth and braced himself for the punchline.

"Five. One to hold the bolt in place, and four to turn the car around!"

David audibly ground his teeth, and Boost snickered.

"Here's another good one. A Honda Element asked someone what time it was, and he told her it was 3:15. The Element, looking puzzled, replied, 'You know, it's the weirdest thing. I've been asking that question all day and each time I get a different answer.'" Guffawed Wingo.

David was rapidly losing his self control. He drove toward Wingo slowly, then punched one of Wingo's headlights with his tire. Wingo yelped in pain as his headlight cracked.

Snot Rod lunged forward and rammed David, "Oh no you don't," he growled.

"What is going on here?" Sheriff had come to check on the DRH while everyone had been distracted. Not having any way to know how much the police car had seen, they all edged away from each other and looked around guiltily.

Wingo took the opportunity to attempt to incriminate David. "Well sir, I was bored so I started telling jokes. David got sick of my jokes so he cracked my headlight. Snot Rod came to my rescue."

"Is this true?" Sheriff asked grimly.

Boost, DJ, and Snot Rod all nodded.

David shook his hood. "It's partly true, sir, but Wingo wasn't telling jokes. He was insulting me. The things he said..." David looked angry and hurt.

"But no one physically attacked you until you attacked Wingo?" Questioned Sheriff.

David remained silent.

"David, go wait for me at the impound. I'll speak with you later. DJ, Boost, GET BACK TO WORK!"

The two Road Hazards meekly did as they were told.

And David began planning revenge.

**Notes:**

**I'm planning on doing a sequel for this story at some point. I really like David (in case you hadn't noticed, he's an insanely irrational car. Fun to write and imagine.), but I do want him to be punished for framing the DRH someday. And no, David isn't a character from either of the movies. He looks a bit like Miles Axlerod, but that's pure coincidence.**

**I'm not good at writing stories with police and trials. Please don't judge me too harshly if I did a bad job writing Sheriff or something.**

**This story is set before Lightning came to Radiator Springs. David left the town before the movie Cars began.**

**Oh, and that you for reviewing and/or favoriting this fanfic! Seeing that people enjoy my writing makes my day.**


	4. Speechless

**(Backstory: DJ's sound system was destroyed by a random car who crashed into him. His voice was wiped out by a combination of a cold and some screaming as a result of said crash)**

* * *

><p>Many cars get nightmares about driving on the ice roads in Alaska. Or about running out of gas fifty miles from the nearest station. Or going to church without their tires. Not many have nightmares about losing both their voices and their sound systems at the same time.<p>

DJ thought that this was probably because most cars honestly don't take that much pleasure from the many different emotions and memories vibrations in the air can produce. He pitied those poor cars deeply.

...On the other tire, those cars were kind of lucky, he thought as he angled his rearview mirror to inspect his ruined sound system and attempted to say something-Anything!-for the hundredth time.

"Stop dwelling on your bad luck, D," Wingo said with an almost sympathetic smile, "I'm sure your voice will come back quickly enough."

DJ scowled. 'Quickly enough' would have been yesterday.

* * *

><p>The four tuners drove into one of their favorite towns, a medium sized one called New Airport. As the name implied, there were a fair number of smallish planes who lived there. Not implied by the name, however, was the fact that this place was a paradise for tuner cars. There were loads of shops full of fancy tires, aerodynamic spoilers, lightweight rearview mirrors, and practically any other item one might want to improve oneself with.<p>

Wingo lead DJ to a little store with a sign that said 'Quality Sound Systems' above the door. They went in, and were greeted by a copper Suzuki Swift whose entire rear end was completely redesigned to support the hugest sound system either of them had ever seen.

"Hello," said the car, "how may I help you today?"

Wingo waved his tire in DJ's direction. "My friend needs his sound system repaired. Do you think you can do it?"

The Swift drove around DJ, eyeing the horribly battered sound system with a mixture of delight and horror. He liked seeing another car who obviously appreciated quality music, but the damage that woofer had sustained... Simply dreadful to behold! "I can fix it. I don't have all the parts I need to fully repair it though, and the soonest I could get them would probably be in about three days. Should I place the order anyway?"

Wingo looked over at DJ, who nodded. "Yes, please," said Wingo.

* * *

><p>The two cars left the shop as soon as the Swift had ordered everything he needed to repair DJ's sound system. Wingo had been invaluable as a translator; thanks to him, DJ had managed to convince the Swift to not order a secondary sound display for his spoiler. It had been close, though.<p>

"Want to go chat with some other tuners?" Wingo asked casually.

DJ rolled his eyes. He didn't really want to go anywhere near anyone who wasn't part of the DRH at the moment, and Wingo knew it.

"Okay then, come on!" Said Wingo, intentionally misinterpreting DJ's facial expression.

DJ stuck out his tongue, but followed his friend.

The two found a group of insanely showy tuners near a nice looking hotel. The tuners grinned when they saw DJ and Wingo, and yelled for them to come join them. The ever fearless and enthusiastic Wingo immediately went over to chat with them.

DJ hung back a bit, not sure about visiting anyone when he couldn't even speak, and did his best to be invisible.

Wingo happily talked with the other tuners for a few minutes. Then the conversation started going bad.

"My spoiler is _not_ a sign of my gullibility. It's decorative, duh!" Wingo said, eyes narrowing with rage.

"Spoken like a car who knows he made a mistake and doesn't want to admit it," laughed a pearly white Toyota Tundra.

Wingo lunged forward to punch the big pickup truck with his tire, and suddenly everyone was fighting.

No way could Wingo hold his own against these crazy cars! He wasn't very big or fast, and DJ could already see that he was going to take a serius beating if he wasn't pulled away from the fight fast. DJ dove into the fight, found Wingo, and shoved him out. Wingo tried to go back to the fight, but DJ knocked a rain barrel over which soaked Wingo and made him calm down a bit.

They hurried away from the fight, DJ occasionally shoving his friend forward when he thought they weren't going fast enough. Finally they stopped in a dark alley.

Wingo noticed that DJ was glaring at him. "What?" He asked.

With a mixture of tire waving and scowling, DJ managed to get his message across.

"Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have gotten so mad at them. But they were saying that my spoiler was inefficient, and I must be extremely gullible to have bought it. You would be angry if someone talked about your sound system that way."

DJ waved his tire, dismissing Wingo's accusation as being irrelevant, then rolled his eyes.

"You're probably right," muttered Wingo, "but it made me so annoyed!"

DJ snorted, then felt pleased that he could still do that.

"You think I'm making excuses!" Wingo spluttered.

DJ smiled. Wingo was so good at understanding him.

Wingo pretended to ignore DJ.

* * *

><p>They went off in search of their friends, and finally they located Boost. He was hiding behind a dumpster; Apparently Wingo wasn't the only Road Hazard who had gotten into trouble that day.<p>

"Some restaurant owner got mad at me for bringing my nitrous tanks into her restaurant," said Boost sourly, "'no outside food or drink' or something."

"That stinks," said Wingo with a laugh, not sounding especially sympathetic. DJ jabbed on of Wingo's dents, making Wingo yell. "OUCH! What was that for?"

DJ smiled angelically, knowing that Wingo would figure it out as soon as he stopped telling himself excuses about that silly fight.

* * *

><p>"Hurry up, Wing!" DJ whispered. His voice had finally started working again, but now it was embarrassingly weak and scratchy.<p>

"Coming," Wingo whispered back, knowing that it would annoy his friend greatly.

DJ's sideview mirrors twitched with frustration. _Very funny, Wingo. Not._

They drove into Quality Sound Systems and the odd looking Swift immediately began repairing DJ's sound system while humming the Car Wars theme.

Wingo looked as if he was barely containing his annoyance (he wasn't much of a Car Wars fan), but DJ kind of enjoyed the humming. At least it wasn't too out of tune.

"There!" Said the Swift after a lot of soldering and replacing of glass, "Try turning on your sound system and see how it sounds."

DJ squeezed his eyes shut in concentration, then smiled triumphantly as his built in computer made its booting up sound. Then, after thinking for a moment, he started playing his most triumphant recording of Scotland the Brave.

Wingo smiled. It was good to see DJ feeling like himself again.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong>

**I've noticed that a lot of DRH fanfics have various Road Hazards having romantic relationships with each other. Since this story especially focuses on DJ and Wingo, I thought I should clarify what kind of a relationship these two have and will have for the foreseeable future.**

**Wingo is DJ's older brother in everything but oil. He teaches DJ new police evasion techniques, teases DJ mercilessly, and if DJ ever had a girl (or boy) friend, he'd threaten them terribly and worry about DJ every time DJ went on a date. **

**DJ is, as you may have guessed, basically Wingo's younger brother. He thinks that Wingo is a bit crazy and annoying, but likes him anyway. When his voice is working, he repays Wingo for all of the teasing Wingo does. From the goodness of his engine, of course.**


	5. You've Got a Friend In Me

Wingo, Snot Rod, and DJ were hanging out near a camp fire. They were waiting for Boost to join them; He had gone off to be by himself and he hadn't returned yet.

"What's up with Boost?" Wingo wondered.

"What do you mean?" Asked DJ.

"He's been seeming sad lately," Snot Rod said. Wingo nodded his hood in agreement.

DJ frowned into the camp fire, his eyelids wrinkling thoughtfully. "I guess I know what you two mean."

"I think one of us should try asking him-Tactfully, of course!-what's wrong," decided Snot Rod.

"You thought it up so you get to do it," Wingo said, grinning at Snot Rod and gesturing with his tire in the direction Boost had gone.

Snot Rod's eyes widened nervously. "Can't you do it?"

"Boost would think that I was teasing him," Wingo said, "and DJ would get lost since he doesn't have a GPS."

DJ snorted. "You just think I'd mess up and get Boost angry."

"Guilty as charged."

* * *

><p>Snot Rod followed Boost's tracks until he saw the glow of his friend's lights up ahead.<p>

"Boost?" He asked a bit shyly.

The older car turned to look at him, looking exhaused and sad. "Yes?"

Snot Rod shuffled his tires a bit, unsure about how to ask Boost what was wrong. Finally he pulled himself together enough to say, "If you want me to go away, I can."

"Nah, you can stay if you want," Boost said with a small smile.

Snot Rod drove over to sit next to Boost. They sat and contemplated the night sky for a while.

Finally Boost spoke, "Do you remember me telling you about my teacher, Daniel Ford?"

"Of course I do."

"I just found out that he died. Two years ago."

Snot Rod had never met Boost's teacher, but he knew how much Boost cared about him. This must be a terrible blow for his friend. "Wow. That's awful," he said softly.

Boost started crying. "I never even got to say goodbye!"

Snot Rod patted Boost's tire with his own. "Hardly anyone does, not that that's any comfort."

Boost shook his hood. It really wasn't.

They sat together in silence for a long time.

The sky had started growing light when Boost finally spoke again. "Thank you."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong>

**I felt like writing something sweet, so here it is. Not my best fanfiction in terms of plot, but it's a nice little friendship story. *Hugs Boost and Snot Rod***


	6. Revenge

Wingo was lazily watching his friends as they argued about some lame horror movie they had just seen, when he spotted a large car driving toward him. Wingo looked up and forced a smile onto his face. "David! What a honor!"

The Honda Element glared at him. "I thought you were in prison, kid."

"Never been to prison in my life. I only act bad enough to go to jail," said Wingo with a smirk.

David grunted, spun around so his rear bumper was practically in Wingo's face, and stormed off. Wingo could see that David was trembling with rage.

* * *

><p>The sky slowly darkened. None of the Road Hazards really wanted to pay the high price for a motel room (well, Snot Rod did, but it wasn't like had enough money to get one), so they found a few trees fairly near a road to sleep under. Not the height of comfort, but they were used to camping and the sky was cloud free.<p>

Wingo told his friends that David was nearby, and they all agreed to take turns keeping watch. Since Wingo couldn't sleep, he volunteered to watch first.

The moon shone in Wingo's eyes as he waited for trouble. He blinked and shifted so the glare wasn't as bad, but the light was still a bit too bright. He was just wondering if the sunglasses he had stored in his trunk would help, when three huge shapes loomed out of the darkness. Wingo kicked his friends awake.

"What up?" DJ asked stupidly.

"We got ourselves a nodder... WHOA, intruders!" Screeched Boost, frantically trying to reverse at full speed and accidentally shifting to fourth instead, nearly stalling his engine..

The three huge cars came closer. Wingo easily identified them as a Ford F650, a Cadillac Escalade, and an extremely familiar Honda Element. All three made DJ and Snot Rod look unnaturally small and fragile.

"Hello, tuners, ready for some re-tuning?" David asked with a nasty smirk.

"Run!" Yelled Wingo.

Boost shifted gears successfully this time, and all four Road Hazards ran away like Piston Cup champions.

* * *

><p>The tuners all had the common sense to run for town, and to not try to be bravely silent. The bigger cars lacked the common sense to break off the chase when they saw where the DRH were headed for. Even the sound of the local sheriff's sirens didn't make David see sense, although his friends slowed down and nervously checked their sideview mirrors a lot once they heard it.<p>

David had cornered Wingo. Wingo shook with terror but had the courage to spit in his enemy's face. David roared with rage and pulled out his lighter, preparing to burn Wingo's tires.

Then the sheriff slammed a parking boot on David's tire and shoved him away from Wingo.

"You are under arrest," the sheriff growled at David.

* * *

><p>For the first time in their lives, the DRH felt truly grateful for law enforcement cars, jails, and trials. These things might really ruin a good race at times, but they sure could be great for controlling crazed tuner haters.<p>

Also for the first time in their lives, they got to go too someone else's trial.

Attending the trial was boring, but the rewards (AKA lack of oilthirsty bullies on the road) made it okay. And seeing David's face when he heard DJ's recording of the attack? Definitely worth it.

DJ was so happy that he started playing a random The Backhoe King song, which totally annoyed his friends and messed up their perfect day. _But hey, at least he didn't play anything from My Little Golf Cart,_ thought Wingo.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong>

**The Backhoe King is like The Lion King for cars. My Little Golf Cart is like My Little Pony. The songs are pretty much the same; The animation is completely different.**

**I guess that having a car nearly stall because he was half asleep and panicked while shifting gears is weird, but I thought it was funny. I'm strange sometimes.**

**This might be my last story for a while. I think I'm running out of ideas. Once I have some more, I'll start writing again. Don't worry, I'll keep hanging out in the Cars fanfiction section. :)  
><strong>


	7. Memories

Wingo had always stayed in the background when he was in school. He didn't like being noticed, since being noticed might lead to being bullied. Then his mother had died, and his father had sent him to a very strict boarding school. In an act of rebellion, Wingo had painted himself pink and orange tiger striped.

He never attempted to blend in again.

* * *

><p>Ever since he was just a little car, Boost had hated his shape. He looked so, well, ordinary! He had begged his parents to turn him into a limousine or a heavy duty pick-up truck and had been crushed when he learned that such operations were still the stuff of science fiction. Instead, he had gotten himself a gorgeous silver and violet paint job the day he turned eighteen.<p>

* * *

><p>After Snot Rod found a medicine which actually made his allergies less severe, he was asked out on three dates. By three different cars. In the same week.<p>

Snot Rod was so freaked out that he stopped taking his medicine until he had written a suitably polite but firm "no thanks" script to recite for his unwanted admirers.

* * *

><p>DJ was heartbroken when his brother had stolen and destroyed his CDs. Even now, thinking about it still hurt. His only comfort was knowing that he had ripped every one of those CDs and had all the tracks and information stored on his computer... And that his brother hadn't ever ripped the CDs DJ had stolen from <em>him. <em>Pain could certainly make revenge sweet.

* * *

><p>When Finn McMissile first met the Delinquent Road Hazards, they had just been spying on him. Finn had been fighting for his life against a couple of amazingly fast Volkswagen Beetles and the Road Hazards had seen his weaponry. He had no choice but to bully them into being his informants.<p>

* * *

><p>Not long after Mater and Holley stopped dating, DJ asked Holley out. She refused. DJ saw Holley and Finn kissing during a visit to Radiator Springs a few months later.<p>

Life was so unfair sometimes.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong>

**I don't think any of these are drabbles. They're just little memory-thingummies to help get my imagination start running again, and maybe make you smile. Maybe.**

**Whatever they are, I hope you liked them!**

**Oh, and I posted them here because I didn't think they were good enough to get their own story post thingummy. If you think they should be moved, please tell me! :)  
><strong>


	8. Wingo's Mistake

Four brightly colored tuner cars drove down the highway, completely ignoring the many signs telling them that the speed limit was 45 MPH. They shot past speed-limit-abiding cars travelling in the same direction, also almost completely ignoring the rude tire gestures and insults the more obedient vehicles threw at them.

"Man," Snot Rod said as he averted his eyes from one exceptionally rude semi, "don't those honest, hard working, law abiding folk have any manners?"

Wingo snorted. "You should stop speeding before you start judging the haters, kid. They're just mad because they're jealous of our courage."

"Courage? When has he ever been brave?" DJ muttered to Snot Rod. The orange muscle car laughed.

Wingo, whose hearing was quite good, glared at DJ. "Go listen to rap on your iPod, music junkie."

DJ squinted in concentration, then smirked as his built in sound system started blasting out one of Wingo's least favorite rap songs. "Why use an iPod when you have the best sound system outside of a music convention?"

"Argh!" Yelled the cowardly Road Hazard with the huge spoiler.

"Cut it out, children," Boost called.

DJ turned off his sound system, looking apologetic. "Sorry, Father!" DJ and Wingo said in unison.

They drove in silence for a few miles.

"Guys, I have something to tell you," said Wingo quietly.

The three other Road Hazards glanced at each other, startled. Was Wingo sounding... unhappy? How could that be possible?

Wingo looked at each of his friends. "I love you all. You're the best family I've ever had... Sometimes it feels like you're the only family I've ever had. But..."

Boost, Snot Rod and DJ all looked concerned.

"...I met this girl back when I was in high school. She was a legal adult and I wasn't yet, but we fell in love." He sighed dreamily. "We didn't talk to each other for years, but we recently found each other online and we've decided that we're meant to be together. The thing is, she refuses to be part of DRH..."

Snot Rod sniffled rather loudly. No one could tell if he was about to cry, or if it was just his allergies.

"You're leaving us?" Boost's voice squeaked a bit and he blinked in surprise at the sound.

"It's my destiny. She said so, and I agree."

DJ spluttered in amazement. "Who is this lady? What gives her the right to decide your 'destiny'?"

"She's a member of the Eternal Oil gang in Utah," Wingo said with a glare, "show some respect!"

The look on DJ's face went from amazement to barely concealed horror in approximately .05 seconds. "But... But... The Eternal Oil gang is a criminal organization. What are you thinking?"

"Criminal or not, I love her." Was the resolute reply.

"I suppose you should follow your engine..." Boost trailed off glumly.

Snot Rod wiped his hood frantically, trying to not cry.

DJ looked rather pale despite his dark blue paint.

"Just kidding. I'm not leaving DRH any time soon." Wingo said with a laugh.

His three friends gaped in shock. "WHAT?"

"It's Halloween. A night for scaring the living daylights out of the cars you care about. Did I scare ya?" Chuckled Wingo.

DJ and Boost looked at each other and nodded. They drove up alongside Wingo and shoved him into a roadside ditch.

"Hey! Ow!" Yelped the unfortunate prankster, spitting out mud.

"Serves you right," muttered Snot Rod.

Boost and DJ yelled at Wingo for half an hour, then helped him out of the ditch and told him how glad they were that he had been joking.

It was a sadder, muddier, wiser Wingo who drove with the Delinquent Road Hazards that night. For the sake of his paint and his hearing, he resolved to never scare them so badly again.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong>

**Somehow I doubt that this story was too out of character. I bet that Wingo loves to scare his friends. :)  
><strong>

**To everyone who has favorited, watched, reviewed, or even just viewed Becoming a Road Hazard: Thank you! You guys are great. This series would be way lamer if I didn't know I had an audience. (Although sometimes it's a lame series anyway. Ah well.)**

**'Til next time, Cars fans!**

**This is "Finn", signing out.  
><strong>


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